文学与瘟疫的不解之缘

The Close Relationship between Literature and Epidemics

自古至今,瘟疫与人类社会如影随形,不时影响着历史的发展进程。它也在众多文学作品中得到了反映。意大利作家薄伽丘的《十日谈》,是文艺复兴时期的一部名作,全书的叙述框架则与14世纪横扫欧洲的黑死病息息相关。法国作家加缪的《鼠疫》、《戒严》展示了疫情的全景图,展现了人的反抗意志和精神上的畸变;当代中国作家迟子建的《白雪乌鸦》则对百余年前在在东北蔓延的鼠疫作了详尽的描绘,聚焦哈尔滨傅家甸的芸芸众生在瘟神的威压下的挣扎与痛苦,绘制出一幅百年前哈尔滨日常生活的浮世绘。在一些文学作品中,作者虽然没有展示瘟疫流行时期的全景图,但疫情在其笔下人物的生活历程中扮演了重要的角色,直接改变了其命运的走向。英国作家毛姆的《面纱》中的女主人公凯蒂在随丈夫深入疫区后,她的人生观发生了蜕变,灵魂得到了净化。她鼓足勇气,决意开始新的人生。而德国作家托马斯·曼的《死于威尼斯》中的作家阿申巴赫在水城威尼斯度假,一场霍乱疫情不期而至。由于陷入了对波兰美少年塔齐奥不可遏止的恋情,他对猖獗的疫情毫不在意,留守在疫区,还经常在威尼斯迂曲的小径上尾随着心爱的美少年,直至不知不觉间染上了疫病,猝然身亡。在作者眼里,他获得了“超越一切文明生活经验的生命感觉的提升”,这与德国浪漫主义文化传统一脉相承。

Since ancient times,epidemics have been closely connected with human society,and have often exerted considerable influence upon the course of history.They also find expressions in numerous literary works.“The Decameron,”by Italian author Boccaccio,is a masterpiece in the era of Renaissance.Its narrative framework is set against a background of the Black Death ravaging Europe in the 14th century.The novel The Plague and the drama“State of Siege,”both composed by French writer Albert Camus,demonstrate a panorama of epidemics,foregrounding man’s will to revolt and abnormal changes in mentality.And White Snow,Black Crows,a novel by contemporary Chinese writer Chi Zijian,presents a detailed description of the plague shrouding China’s northeast over a century ago.Chi concentrates on people’s struggles and pains in Harbin under the pressure of epidemics,and offers a vivid display of ordinary life at that time.It can be seen in some literary works that though writers would sometimes fail to work out a panorama of epidemics,epidemics still play an important role in characters’lives,recharting the courses of their fate.W.S.Maugham is a popular British writer,whose novel The Painted Veil focuses on the rebirth of the female protagonist,Katie.A frivolous woman,she came to an area ravaged by epidemics,and ended up experiencing a radical spiritual growth.With a purified soul,she plucked up courage and started a new life.Similar drastic changes can be found in Death in Venice,a novella written by German author Thomas Mann.The protagonist,Achenbach,was a writer who happened to be on vacation in Venice.Having fallen in love with a Polish boy,Tadzio,Achenbach chose to stay as a cholera outbreak took place on the scenic spot.This erotic adventure eventually led to his infection and demise.In Mann’s view,Achenbach embraced a“elevated sense of life that transcends all civilized life experiences,”which is in line with German Romanticism.